Whose Jargon?

 

 

 

Once when you say a word

Something would come to mind

And it would be the same for everyone

Almost all of the time.

 

Communication was simpler then

Than it is today,

Our words are being corrupted

In so many different ways.

 

I remember when I was younger

Not very long ago,

Words were fairly straightforward

Now today, it’s not so.

 

If you said the word ‘come’

One meaning would be forthcoming

But into today’s economy,

That word now evokes grinning.

 

Enough said about that, though,

I am going to move along,

Concerning this poem’s content

I feel particularly strong.

 

It’s about a newfound jargon

Pertaining to a group,

I am totally flabbergasted

Re the level they have stooped.

 

I could truly understand

If the cause was really essential

But far from being such,

It’s not even a nonessential.

 

Some things are not essential

But you’d like to have them still,

They may be of cosmetic value

And give a wholesome thrill.

 

For men it might be a car stereo

With buttons, whistles and all,

For the women it might be curtains-

Household decor is their call.

 

I must emphasize wholesome

Don’t let us get mixed up:

Don’t be confused with the LGBTQ2

And their prescribed bitter cup.

 

 

Why can’t I use the word ‘gay’

Without being frowned upon?

It once used to mean delightfully happy

Now it’s a word I should shun.

 

It has come to mean derogation

Or, you could become entrapped,

Or something so abominable,

There is no way of getting back.

 

It is now controlled by a group

That’s taking the world by storm,

They are suggesting very forcefully

We can be different from how we were born.

 

It does not matter your DNA

And it does not matter your sex,

What matters is how “you feel inside”

Delight in it even if others get vex.

 

That brings me to another word

A word that we must give up,

And limp away with “tail between legs”

Like the proverbial ungratified pup.

 

 

Gender is the word I mean

Once clear to man woman and child,

Now it is no longer binary

But has become irreparably defiled.

 

“Give it up,” some may suggest,

“We can get along without it.”

But don’t you get the impression here of late

That giving up is becoming our habit?

 

Hence, a jargon all their own,

Stolen, not even on loan

And all we can do is moan,

While they pick clean every bone.

 

‘Homophobic’ if you dare disagree-

A word not heard before,

But it certainly belongs to this clan,

I’m not finished, there is more.

 

Of all the phobias that I know

This must be the most recent one,

And like all the other phobias,

I seriously wish it were gone.

 

‘Tolerance’: they have none

But they demand it nevertheless,

And ‘discrimination’ is only an offense

When you put them to the test.

 

Other words are being morphed

Family is certainly one of them,

And with family, will go our children,

That is another problem.

 

‘Apathy’ and ‘sympathy’ are on their side

Enough to skew any vote,

“Why can’t we leave them alone”

Is now the daily quote.

 

Tiny mites before, now with great might

They are winning every fight,

Each quarter we yield is also a right

Fast encroaches the night.

 

It’s time to stop for a reality check

And arrest this damning slide,

Then reclaim the words that we’ve lost

Before we are forced to hide.

 

Because…

 

Now, we have to tiptoe around

While they are calling all the shots,

And the words they choose

We must be prepared to lose,

We are now in the inferior spot.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019